(photo: Bekir Dönmez on Unsplash)

My Word: BALANCE

You see me as a tower of peace… tranquility and balance personified.
One more rock and this tower of peace will crumble.
Any further expectations are unreasonable and unfair.
Have I not already proven myself to be strong? Beautiful?
Aren’t you fascinated by how I'm managing to appear strong and beautiful while doing so many difficult things simultaneously?
You have no idea how hard I'm working… because it doesn’t look like work at all.
You see no agony. You see no stress.
Because you’ve been lead to believe that achieving balance is this easy.
Effortless.
Just let everything pile on… one after the other…
Sure, I can handle it.
Let the rains come… let the winds blow…
I will remain in perfect balance.
A rock… a whole pile of them in a sea of chaos.
Ohhhhhmmmmmm.
What a crock of shit.

MY THOUGHTS

I just kept thinking about how "balance" has become this overused buzzword and how we all are seeking to find it our lives. Mostly because we are expected to. Doing and having it all while being calm and deliriously happy is sold to us daily under the guise of "work-life balance."

Some make it look so easy. People have told me I make it look easy. This photo is an example of how easy we can make it look yet nobody has any clue what it takes to keep up this appearance.

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A COMMISSIONED PIECE

This is the commissioned piece I mentioned in the second lesson video. A couple of years ago, photographer Carey Bradshaw created a collection of photos with soul-stirring imagery of slavery for Black History Month and asked me to put words to the pictures. Here is one of my favorites from the series:

DEATH BECOMES HER

I surrender to you, deep blue.
Into your abyss, I come… willingly… desperately.
Take me in your arms.
Softly… lovingly… whisper your promises to me again…
No more chains… no more pain.
Make my body heavy with your mercy.
Hold me under.
Take me home.
Let my lungs fill with sweet freedom.
Yes… yes… beautiful death.
Now, I can finally breathe.

MY THOUGHTS

Again, this is my favorite image in the series. It is so beautiful in its tragedy… knowing that this woman would rather drown than reach the shore and enter a life of bondage. Carey masterfully captured the agony and ecstasy of her death.

Christie Glascoe

Award-winning Writer + Creative Champion

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